‘Because I Got High’: the story behind Afroman’s hit single
Joseph ‘Afroman’ Foreman had never intended to write a generational anthem. ‘Because I Got High’ started off as a mere joke, caused by a single unproductive day, which quickly spiralled out of control, to the point where its creator could have never foreseen.
One morning, Afroman woke up with a full intention of cleaning his room, getting his life sorted, and taking care of errands. However, these intentions were quickly sidelines when a long-time friend arrived with weed in tow. They found themselves smoking, laughing, talking, and doing absolutely nothing. The first line came almost naturally somewhere in that haze: “I was gonna clean my room, and then I got high”.
This singular moment turned out to be the backbone of the song. Afroman has remarked that the whole song only took a little more than two minutes to compose, hardly much longer than the song itself. He favoured simplicity, repeating the same chorus over and over as he piled up verses that catalogue increasingly disastrous consequences.
Unfinished tasks become absent classes, lack of child support, joblessness, paralysis and eventual realisation that he has only ruined his whole life since he got high. The brilliance of the record is the ease with which it conveys that fall. It is a joyful tune, almost nursery-like, padded with the slow-paced, lazy scatting that keeps the song playful despite escalating conditions.
Initially recorded on low-budget gear and released independently in 2000, ‘Because I Got High’ was never intended to become a mainstream darling. It was not an instant success either, and was simply shared among friends and featured in local gigs, until the internet became involved. File sharing sites such as Napster did it all, marketing budget or not. The song quickly went viral, jumping around college dormitories, radio stations, and internet discussion boards. DJs started playing it due to the demand of the listeners. It was inevitable before labels picked up on it.
Universal Records were the first to bite, promptly re-recording ‘Afroman’, then re-releasing the song in 2001, pairing it with Kevin Smith’s Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back soundtrack and placing it on Afroman’s major-label album The Good Times. The result was explosive. ‘Because I Got High’ made the US Top 15, crossed the Atlantic and went number one in the UK. It became the number-one album in Europe and Australasia, sold more than a million copies the world over and earned Afroman a Grammy nomination.
The cultural influence was profound and almost alien. ‘Because I Got High’ turned into a categorical throughline to the very concept of procrastination, to the point where its chorus was often used as a punchline in peer-to-peer dialogue. It was blasted at parties, censored on daytime radio, quoted by teachers and parents, and even used in courtrooms. One judge famously ordered a teenage offender to listen to the song and write an essay about its message. High Times crowned it “Pot Song of the Year,” while critics debated whether it was pro-weed, anti-weed, or something more ambiguous.
With the achievement of ‘Because I Got High’ the life of Afroman was changed overnight. Before, he was a local club mainstay and carboot CD merchant. Now, he was touring the world, appearing on television and navigating the strange territory of being defined by a single song. As much as follow-ups such as ‘Crazy Rap (Colt 45 & 2 Zig-Zags)’ were undeniably successful, there was nothing that could have ever eclipsed the original. It was not only his calling card, but also his shadow.
The song was given a second lease of life several years later. In 2014, Afroman re-recorded it as a ‘Positive Remix’ due to the changing perception of marijuana. This version turned the story completely around and redefined cannabis as a medical and helpful substance, which is associated with curing disease and preventing more dangerous drugs. The more slack spiral was substituted with advocacy, which reflected the cultural dialogue on weed since 2001.
Two decades on, ‘Because I Got High’ endures not because it was polished or profound, but because it was honest, silly, and perfectly timed. Born from one wasted afternoon, it captured a universal truth about distraction, temptation, and self-sabotage, then wrapped it in a melody impossible to forget. Afroman didn’t plan a classic. He just got high, told the truth, and let the world take it from there.